Westminster Record August 2012
Parish Profile
Always at the service of others By Lucy Jenkinson Settled amongst the leafy towns and villages of central Hertfordshire, Welwyn Garden City feels a lot further away than a mere 20 miles from Kings Cross. Built as a planned ‘Garden City’ in the inter-war period by Quakers, Fr Norbert Fernandes, who has been Parish Priest to Welwyn Garden City for 4 years, is quick to point out the lively ecumenical scene that exists in this area. St Bonaventure, the oldest Catholic Church in Welwyn Garden City, sits at the far end of the Parkway quadrangle with a Baptist church on the opposite corner, the Anglican church of St Francis of Assisi on the other side and a Free Church worship centre at the other end. On the second weekend of July, the Olympic Torch made its way through
Font at St Bonaventure’s
Welwyn Garden City and there was a fete held on the Parkway green with the Catholic community providing one thousand cupcakes and helping supply teas and coffees alongside their Christian neighbours all afternoon. St Bonaventure’s itself is a beautiful, chapel-like building, giving a very peaceful and intimate feeling to the Masses, Weddings and Baptisms celebrated there Fr Norbert tells me. The parish office operates out of the hall to one side of the church and the house on the other side is home to Bishop John Sherrington, one of Westminster’s Auxiliary Bishops. Welwyn Garden City’s newest Catholic Church is Holy Family, with a primary school of the same name. This church has fantastic acoustics and recently held a Taize prayer session with the Pax Christi Peace Icon. The church’s CAFOD group
proudly display their fund-raising activities and earnings in the narthex. Fr Norbert joins parishioners after Wednesday’s Mass for tea and cake here too. Fr Norbert acknowledges that bringing the three parishes of Welwyn Garden City together was not without its challenges, but these lay mostly in the time-tabling and logistics of the operation. He aims to be at every mass throughout Sunday, sometimes slipping out when he’s not the main celebrant to make the end of Mass elsewhere. Our Lady Queen of Apostles is the largest of the three churches in Welwyn Garden City and where Fr Norbert lives. It also has the largest parish hall and is used for community, ecumenical and diocesan functions and meetings on a regular basis. Next to the church hall is a chapel which is open every day as a safe space to come and pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The parish centre is used as a community cafe on weekdays and provides training for people with learning difficulties and disabilities. A prayer garden has recently been developed, nestling between the parish centre and the church, it is another safe space for people to come and pray. Community spirit is of great importance in Welwyn Garden City and Fr Norbert is keen to encourage it; inviting choirs from local secular state schools into sing at Our Lady and celebrating the feast days of national patron saints on the nearest Sunday with the whole parish. Fr Norbert has wanted to be a priest for as long as he can remember and went straight to Allen Hall after leaving school aged 18, being ordained to the priesthood at 24. He has had a few different roles during his time as a priest including spending a year at Westminster Cathedral, being parish priest at
Altar of Our Lady Queen of Apostles
Parishioners with the Peace Icon that recently spent time in Welwyn Garden City
as a group who take it upon themselves to visit people at the Isobel Hospice regularly. Fr Norbert visits the two Catholic primary schools, Holy Family and Our Lady’s, on a weekly basis and two lay chaplains are based at the Queen Elizabeth the Second and Lister hospitals. Fr Norbert acknowledges the importance of taking time for himself too, and the same goes for his parishioners with whom he organises pilgrimages each year as well as fun trips and events. Above all, Fr Norbert considers himself a man of God and this means always Sculpture at Holy Family Church being at the service of others, an Holyrood in Watford and school attitude which is both respected and chaplain to St Charles’ Catholic Sixth emulated by the people of the three Form College in Ladbroke Grove. His churches of Welwyn Garden City. last role before moving to Welwyn Garden City was as parish priest at Fulham for ten years during which time he saw a complete renovation of the beautiful Pugin church. His energy and enthusiasm for his vocation is infectious and unstoppable as he continues to drive new initiatives and encourage fresh ideas in Welwyn Garden City. Ahead of the Olympic Games, the Pax Christi Peace Icon, recently visited Welwyn Garden City for a week neatly coinciding with the Olympic Torch. The idea behind the Peace Icon was to break down barriers so Fr Norbert and a team of parishioners took this literally and brought the Peace Icon to people and places where it would not normally be encountered. The parishioners of Welwyn Garden City, led by their priest, are constantly thinking of others, with a really proactive St Vincent DePaul Society and Justice and Peace group as well
Fr Norbert Fernandes
FOR MORE INFORMATION Phone 01707 323234 www.rcdow.org.uk/parishes Sunday Mass: St Bonaventure 8, 10 Holy Family 9.30, 6pm Our Lady (Sat 6pm) 11.30
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